Remembering John Stott…One Year Later

27th July is the anniversary of the death of John Stott. I write this, one year on, from Dale, Pembrokeshire, Wales — the place where his gravestone stands, bearing its silent witness to John’s lifetime commitment to Christ and the saving message of the cross.

Any anxieties that his vision and ministries might suffer when John departed his earthly life have been unfounded. That’s partly because John had made very thorough preparation during the ten years before his death to encourage the formation and development of the Langham Partnership with its international leadership and strong programme operations. But it is mainly because the vision is now so widely shared around the world.

The name Langham is ‘owned’ in some 60 countries by people committed to strengthening the ministry of God’s word through raising the standards of biblical preaching, teaching and writing. Each of the three Langham programmes – Preaching, Scholars and Literature – is experiencing the excitement of growth, but with the constant challenge of being faced with needs and opportunities that outsrip the resources available. May our memories of John Stott, and our thankfulness for his incredible legacy, inspire us to sustained and growing commitment to the vision he left us.